Today I received the following email Cassie King at Direct Action Everywhere. Please share:
It’s been 5 days since Zoe was taken into jail, and while she is locked up in solitary confinement, something important is happening outside the jail walls.
This weekend, hundreds of people took to the streets across the U.S. to demand that CA Governor Gavin Newsom pardon Zoe and end her jail sentence. Free Zoe marches and rallies took place in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York City, with powerful outreach, speeches, and conversations with passersby. Some were learning about Zoe’s case for the first time and others recognized her story from the news or social media.
The marches continued that public discussion. We saw positive local press coverage, including from SF Gate and KRON4. People are paying attention. And not just in the U.S. People have protested in Mexico, Brazil, Canada, and England urging Governor Newsom to pardon Zoe. Around the world, people are calling out the injustice of punishing compassion while animal cruelty goes unchecked.
Yesterday, I was able to visit Zoe. We spoke through glass. So far, the jail is letting Zoe keep her medical equipment, likely due to all the attention on them, but they are restricting her access to glucose which she needs to treat blood sugar lows.
Zoe was so happy to hear about all the marches and growing attention on Perdue’s cruelty, and the fact that the fight is continuing even while she’s locked up. Your solidarity is reaching her. It’s helping her get through this. In complete isolation, with little to do, she is lonely and very bored. But she is inspired and resolute. And she thinks, always, of the animals. Here’s part of a recent update Zoe shared from jail:
“As I sit alone in my cell for hours, I think about life on the outside: the flowers I pass on my morning walks in Berkeley, the feeling of wind on my face, the whistles of songbirds. I think about the animals at my sanctuary, and also the animals who aren’t so lucky, who are suffering far worse than I am here.
My mattress would be an unheard-of luxury to them. They sleep on wire, cement, and feces. They need help far more than I do.
We live in a society where it’s normal to lock each other in cages. The United States incarcerates a larger percentage of its population than any civilization in human history, and that doesn’t even factor in animals. Billions of animals are locked up in factory farms at any given time.
These systems only exist because we let them. We give them power with our complacency. That fact is troubling, but it’s also empowering. We can take our power back.”
Like Zoe said, animal exploitation industries depend on silence and complacency. Let’s show them we will never be silenced. We’ll keep fighting until every animal is happy, safe, and free.
Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old student and animal rights activist is being sent to prison for rescuing four chickens from slaughter. She has health problems and will be harshly treated in there. Please help her.
Zoe will soon be incarcerated in Sonoma County, CA for the “crime” of rescuing animals from abuse at a Perdue-owned slaughterhouse. All along, this was a political prosecution; instead of prosecuting Perdue for documented animal cruelty, the District Attorney punished Zoe for exposing it.
The District Attorney charged Zoe with a ramped-up felony conspiracy charge to increase her maximum sentence and forced her to wear a GPS ankle monitor for over 20 months while awaiting trial. When trial finally arrived, the court severely restricted Zoe’s ability to present evidence of the animal cruelty she had documented at Perdue and reported to authorities before the rescue. The jury only heard a small sliver of the story and Zoe was ultimately convicted and sentenced to jail.
Her imminent incarceration isn’t just unjust; it is life-threatening. Zoe has a serious chronic illness that requires constant medical attention. Being deprived of her freedom and medical care while in jail could kill her.
We demand her immediate release. Compassion should not be criminalized, and it certainly shouldn’t be a death sentence.
Please sign to fight for Zoe and everyone else who bravely makes compassion their first priority. Compassion is not a crime. Don’t let them make it one.
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #4 continues from yesterday:
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Thank goodness the girls have nearly caught up and Sindy is practically within reach 😮 Come back tomorrow to see what happens next, or if you don’t want to wait you can see now 😀
😮 Typical – assuming she’s a he! Come back tomorrow to see if Venus can give them the slip. Or if you’d rather not wait, you can read the whole story now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #4 begins today:
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Oh no! Someone’s sawing the very spot that Sindy’s standing on! Move Sindy, MOVE! Come back tomorrow to see if she moves in time, or if you don’t want to wait you can find out now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #3 continues from yesterday:
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Seems like the end doesn’t it? But it’s not 😀 Come back tomorrow to find out what happens next, unless you don’t want to wait, in which case, you can find out now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #3 continues from yesterday:
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What a ridiculous menace he is! 😀 Come back tomorrow to find out what happens next, unless you don’t want to wait, in which case, you can find out now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #3 continues from yesterday:
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Ha! Take that you Flat-Capped Fiend! Come back tomorrow to find out what happens next, unless you don’t want to wait, in which case, you can find out now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #3 continues from yesterday:
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Come back tomorrow to find out if the girls can get away before the Flat-Capped Menace returns, unless you don’t want to wait, in which case, you can find out now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #3 continues from yesterday:
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Ok, that’s off. But what about Gerty? How’s she going to get that gate out of the water by herself? Come back tomorrow to find out, unless you don’t want to wait, in which case, you can find out now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #3 continues from yesterday:
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Oh no – poor Mildred! Will the girl scouts be able to help her to stop that abominable machine? Come back tomorrow to find out, unless you don’t want to wait, in which case, you can find out now 😀
What a nightmare – no wonder the girls are feeling hopeless. Come back tomorrow to see if they come up with a plan, or if you don’t want to wait, you can read the whole story now 😀
ps in case you’re confused by Adi and Venus’s conversation as they exit the building – they’re quoting from Kelly’s Heroes (1970 adventure/comedy movie with Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland). 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #3 continues from yesterday:
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Oh no! Will the girls be able to stop the moving fence? Will Trevor and Toby be able to outrun the moving fence? Come back tomorrow to find out, unless you don’t want to wait, in which case, you can find out now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #3 continues from yesterday:
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Hurry girls – the FCM might come back! You should come back tomorrow to find out if he does, unless you don’t want to wait, in which case, you can find out now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #3 continues from yesterday:
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Thank goodness for Mildred and the girl scouts! That problem’s solved. Isn’t it? Come back tomorrow to find out, unless you don’t want to wait, in which case, you can find out now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #3 continues from yesterday:
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Oh no! The fiendish, nefarious, downright unpleasant Flat-Capped Menace strikes again! Come back tomorrow to see what happens next, unless you don’t want to wait, in which case, you can see now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #3 begins today:
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Oh no, what’s that dastardly fiend got planned this time?! Come back tomorrow to find out, unless you don’t want to wait, in which case, you can find out now 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #2 continues from yesterday:
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Well hurrah! 😀 Come back tomorrow for the beginning of Marvellous Mildred #3: The Terror of Toby Teardrop. But if you missed the beginning of episode #2 (this episode), you can read the whole story here 😀
Penelope Pitstop-esque story Marvellous Mildred #2 continues from yesterday:
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Well done team! But that’s not all, there’s one more page to come so come back tomorrow to read it – or, if you don’t want to wait, you can read it now 😀
Violet's Vegan Comics 